Maria holds a veterinary degree from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, obtained in 2015. During their master's thesis, she developed an interest in pig welfare and epidemiology, exploring links between pig welfare and meat sanitary inspection results. Prior to commencing doctoral studies at Teagasc (The Irish Food and Agriculture Development Authority) in 2015, Maria worked as a veterinary meat inspector in pig slaughterhouses in Portugal. Her PhD, completed in 2018 at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB, Spain) and Teagasc, focused on factors affecting pig production in Ireland, including biosecurity, feeding practices, and respiratory disease. Maria worked as a post-doctoral researcher at Teagasc, concentrating on antibiotics' usage and resistance in pig and poultry production. In 2020, she joined SRUC as a lecturer in veterinary epidemiology, based in Inverness at the Centre for Epidemiology and Planetary Health (CEPH) and she is also a member of the Centre of Expertise on Animal Diseases Outbreaks (EPIC). Maria's primary interests lie in pig health and welfare, particularly in relation to veterinary public health. She employs data analysis and visualization alongside veterinary expertise to provide valuable insights for farmers, stakeholders, and national authorities.